Tonga national rugby sevens team

The Tonga national rugby sevens team competes in the IRB World Sevens Series. Tonga has participated in five Rugby World Cup Sevens.

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Tonga women's national rugby sevens team.
Tonga
UnionTonga Rugby Football Union
Nickname(s)'Ikale Tahi
Coach(es)Andy Katoa
Captain(s)Fautasi Mau
Team kit
Change kit
World Cup Sevens
Appearances5 (First in 1993)
Best result7th (1993)

History

Rugby Sevens World Cup

Tonga's first appearance was at the 1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens held in Scotland. They finished at the top of their pool and progressed to the finals with four wins and a loss to the hosts.[1] The quarter finals were another round robin with teams split into two pools. Tonga lost all their games and finished in seventh place overall.

The 1997 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held in the mecca of sevens rugby Hong Kong. The tournament was played over three days. Day 1 and 2 had a total of eight pools with three teams per pool. Teams were seeded at the end of Day 1 and assigned to their various pools for Day 2. Tonga had a win against Japan and a loss to New Zealand.[2]

Tonga's pool on Day 2 was a repeat of Day 1 with Japan and New Zealand being pooled together with them. Day 2 yielded the same results as the previous day. They were placed in the Plate quarter-finals and recorded wins against Wales, the Cook Islands and the hosts, Hong Kong to win the Plate and finish in ninth place.

The 2001 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held in Argentina. Tonga did not qualify.

Hong Kong hosted the Sevens World Cup in 2005 for a second time. Tonga finished at the bottom of their pool[3] and ended up in the Bowl quarter-finals where they defeated Chinese Taipei 28 - 19. They lost to Canada in the semi-finals 7 - 0 and finished in their lowest rankings at a World Cup in 19th place.

2009

Tonga qualified for the 2009 World Cup in the Oceania region. The United Arab Emirates were the hosts for the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens. They were in Pool A and played against Arabian Gulf, Italy and New Zealand. Tonga were second in their pool with two wins and a loss.[4] They made it to the Plate quarter-finals and beat Tunisia 24 - 7. However, they lost to Australia in the semis 22 - 19. They finished in eleventh place overall.

Pool A

Team Pld W D L PF PA +/- P
 New Zealand 330010712959
 Tonga 32015734237
 Italy 31022990-615
Arabian Gulf 30032279-573

Plate

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
 
 
 
 Tonga24
 
 
 
 Tunisia7
 
 Tonga19
 
 
 
 Australia22
 
 United States14
 
 
 
 Australia24
 
 Australia17
 
 
 
 Scotland21
 
 France19
 
 
 
 Scotland21
 
 Scotland29
 
 
 
 Portugal7
 
 Portugal12
 
 
 Canada5
 

2013

Russia were the hosts for the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens. Tonga won over Uruguay and advanced to the Plate quarter-finals from their pool.[5] They lost to Canada 26 - 0 and finished in 13th place.

Sevens World Series

2008–09 IRB Sevens World Series

Tonga have only participated in one round of the current IRB Sevens Series so far. They managed the bowl final in their first round of this series in Wellington, they won 24-56 over Cook Islands.

2009 Wellington Sevens

Tonga were in pool "A" along with Scotland, South Africa and Kenya for the Wellington round of the IRB World Sevens Series.

StagesTeamPtsTeam
1 Kenya 21-35 Tonga
2 South Africa 22-65 Tonga
3 Scotland 15-21 Tonga
1/4 final bowl Niue 0-21 Tonga
Semi-final bowl France 5-28 Tonga
Final bowl Cook Islands 24-56 Tonga

2015 Hong Kong Sevens

Tonga played in the World Series Qualifier in the 2015 Hong Kong Sevens. They only managed one win against Guyana.[6]

Tournament history

Rugby World Cup Sevens
World Cup record
Year Round Position Pld W L D
1993 Quarterfinalists 7th 8 4 4 0
1997 Plate Winners 9th 7 5 2 0
2001 Did Not Qualify
2005 Bowl Semifinalists 19th 6 2 5 0
2009 Plate Semifinalists 11th 5 3 2 0
2013 Plate Quarterfinalists 13th 4 1 3 0
2018 22nd4130
Total0 Titles5/63015150

Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games record
Year Round Position Pld W L D
1998 Plate Semifinalists 11th 6 3 3 0
2002 Bowl Finalists 10th 6 3 3 0
2006 Bowl Finalists 10th 6 3 3 0
2010 Bowl Semifinalists 11th 5 2 3 0
2014 Did Not Qualify
2018
Total0 Titles4/62311120

Oceania Sevens
  • 2008: 2nd
  • 2009: 2nd
  • 2010: 3rd
  • 2011: 3rd
  • 2012: 3rd
  • 2013: Did not compete
  • 2014: 6th
  • 2015: 2nd
  • 2016: 5th
  • 2017: 7th
  • 2018: 5th

Current squad

Squad at the 2016 Men's Rugby Sevens Final Olympic Qualification Tournament:[7]

  • 'Atelea Okati
  • Siale Talakai
  • Cooper Vuna
  • Semisi Tei
  • Samisoni Maake
  • Taliauli Sikuea
  • Atelea Moa
  • Sala Halaleva
  • Atieli Pakalani
  • Oleni Ngungutau
  • Fetuli Moe Ata Paea
  • Viliami Siale

Previous Squads

References
  1. World Rugby.org. "1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens". Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  2. World Rugby.org. "1997 Rugby World Cup Sevens". Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  3. World Rugby.org. "2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens". Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  4. World Rugby.org. "2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens". Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  5. World Rugby.org. "2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens". Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  6. worldrugby.org (23 January 2015). "Teams confirmed for Hong Kong Sevens". Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  7. "TONGA 7S - 2016 Olympic Repechage Men's". World Rugby.org. 18 June 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  8. http://www.worldrugby.org/sevens-series/stage/1663/teams/2421
  9. Kaniva Pacific (24 March 2015). "Tongan team confirmed for Hong Kong Sevens 2015". Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  10. pg2015.gems.pro (9 July 2015). "2015 Pacific Games Men's 7s" (PDF). Retrieved 11 July 2015.
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